


In the Shadow of the Valley

by ProwlingThunder



Series: Suddenly: An Army [1]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Gen, Ignis is Handling It, Missing Scene, post chapter 14
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-02
Updated: 2017-03-02
Packaged: 2018-09-27 22:08:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10053545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ProwlingThunder/pseuds/ProwlingThunder
Summary: Even while the world around him frays apart, Ignis is not prepared to let go of the rope.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Princess Lucis](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Princess+Lucis).



They remained in the base for two weeks, Prompto a quiet sense of  _ here I am _ in Ignis' awareness, starkly contrasting to Gladiolus' rage at the world. Sometimes Prompto breaks up the silence, daring, wary-- Ignis can hear his heartbeat, quick like the flit of a hummingbird, can hear the tap of his foot or his fingers against his pants, all nerves-- but usually they say nothing to one another, waiting in the barracks nearest the Crystal. He cannot fill the silence on his own, and Ignis has little to offer in the way of conversation.

Gladio has said  _ enough. "It's just a damned rock! There's no way he's not here, and I won't rest until I find him." _

Ignis cannot find it in him to fault him. A king's shield without a king is nothing, and cast adrift, nothing holds Gladiolus. Oh, there was loyalty to Noctis, friendship, but all of that was moot without Noctis  _ here.  _ Gladio does not do  _ patience _ well, and he never has. So he will tear the base apart searching for their king.

Prompto stayed with Ignis. He was grateful for that, but he could tell how much it was weighing on him. Sometimes he would throw himself to his feet and make for the door, to go  _ do something, _ and Ignis' heart will climb in his throat after a few steps although he is prepared to be left alone, left behind. But then Prompto  _ stops _ walking, and there were no words in any tongue for Ignis to express how relieved he was every time it happened. A part of him hated himself for it. Hadn't he told Gladio he would bow out when he could no longer keep up? And here he was, unable to keep up. Worse: he was holding Prompto back.

That could not be allowed to stand.

They only stay for two weeks because in the middle of an exercise-- he is trying to gain some semblance of ability back, so he picks his way through the room without his cane, Prompto having rearranged the barracks at Ignis' request-- Gladio's footsteps thunder in Ignis ears.

"The Crystal is gone," he says, about as level as Gladio's voice has managed to be in days. Since Noctis' disappearance, there is an edge, a growl, inside his tone that Ignis doesn't think he's ever heard. Not even on the train, when accusing Noctis of caring for no one else. Gladiolus had been  _ wounded, _ then. Desperate to get Noctis to accept his duties. Terrified that he wouldn't, terrified that Noctis would die, that they would all die.

Now Gladiolus is  _ angry, _ and has been for weeks. But there was no one to cast that anger on to. The only Nif they had managed to find had been Prompto, and Gladio surely knew that if he went after the blond, blind or not, Ignis would have to step in. Prompto had done nothing to deserve his ire. His blood was no more his fault than Noctis' had been. The person truly responsible was Ardyn Izunia, and he was not here.

Not that it would have done them any  _ good. _

"He must have come back for it." Ignis reached out, sure there was meant to be a bunk... here, and was relieved when he found it. He settled down onto the mattress. The bodyguard made heavy footfalls over the base flooring, easily tracked. Listening to him drowned out Prompto's quiet self.

Gladio grunted. "Must have."

"Then it does us no good to remain here," Ignis continued. At least a lifetime of diplomacy skills could be put to use against  _ Gladio. _ Though he hadn't had much luck at defusing Gladio's mood in months. Not since Altissia. "We must make our way out of the city and head for the coast, return to Lucis. There is nothing we can do for Noctis by lingering."

Gladio said nothing. He stopped pacing, however, and Ignis could feel the weight of his gaze on him. It was a heavy, judging thing, and he thought he knew what the other must be thinking. Sometimes, more often than he liked, Ignis thought it too. But Noctis had charged him with living, and had not cast him aside or bid him to leave, and so Ignis would keep walking forward for him.

A rustle of cloth alerted him to where Prompto stood. Still nervy. Coiled so tightly, Ignis thought he might snap. "...how do we get out of the city? It's full of daemons, and the sun hasn't risen in days."

"We will manage."

Gladiolus made a doubtful sound, but when Ignis stood-- careful and cautious, still learning himself-- he knew precisely where his cane was, and he got there with no trouble.

Which was something more than Ignis could say for the following months, as Gladio blazed a path first through and then outside the city, Prompto unlocking gates and doors, having to carry their weapons on their person instead of being able to summon and dismiss them at will.

They spoke little to one another. There was nothing to say that had not already been said, and by the time Aranea found them and got them back to Cid, Ignis had forgotten the sound of his own voice.

 

The strain breaks them at Caem. Gladiolus is the first to set off on his own. Honestly, Ignis was surprised it had taken so long for him to leave them behind.

 

Prompto goes approximately nowhere fast.

"You can leave if you want," Ignis told him, bowing out as gracefully as he could muster. "You do not have to stay on my account."

"Uh, yeah, about that... I was wondering if I could take you to meet some people?"

What could Ignis say, except yes?


End file.
